Signs Multiplying by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 7, 1904

Signs Multiplying

By Editor

Editorial

Signs Multiplying

On every hand the signs are multiplying which indicate that the day of the Lord is near at hand. The record for the present year is certainly an unprecedented one. Appalling disasters follow each other with alarming frequency, while the daily record of murders, suicides, robberies, lynchings, defalcations, and betrayals of trust of various kinds show the result of rejecting the gospel of salvation and the message of preparation for these things which are coming upon this world. The judgments of God are calling to repentance, but a terrible influence is being exerted to benumb the spiritual senses and to lead away from God and his truth. These are the perilous times foretold in the Scripture. Those who can discern the signs of the times should redouble their zeal, and hasten the work of giving the saving message in all the world. It is time to bear a decided testimony concerning the meaning of the history which is being made so rapidly, and to warn every unsaved one to flee from the coming wrath. Give the trumpet a certain sound.

Prayer and Pains

PRAYER without earnest effort soon degenerates into a selfish sentimentalism. Effort without earnest prayer is one of the many ways of glorifying self. To John Eliot, the apostle to the North American Indians, is attributed the sentiment that prayer and pains through faith in Christ can accomplish whatever needs to be done. The life of Jesus is the best illustration of the blending of prayer and effort. He worked during the day, and often prayed all night. “Praying always” and “always laboring” are good mottoes for the Christian. He who prays much will be well prepared to labor, and he who labors much will need to pray often.

His Witnesses

To the world Christ is unseen and unknown. The men of the world are fully occupied with business, with politics, with pleasure, with the affairs and interests of this present life, while the unseen things of the heavenly kingdom and their eternal interests are almost wholly crowded from their minds. They need the message of a consecrated life which shall interpret to them the inquiry of the Master, “What doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? For what should a man give in exchange for his life?” Thus there is a constant demand for witnesses who shall bear testimony for Christ, living epistles known and read of all men. The men of the world are not found in the prayer-meeting to listen to the prayers offered and the testimonies borne there, but they observe the daily walk of the Christian, they note his estimate of the worth of worldly possessions, they can readily determine whether he looks at things from a standpoint essentially different from their own, and by these things they judge of the real nature of Christianity. Jesus sent his first disciples forth to be his witnesses “both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This commission is still in force, and is most emphatically applicable in this generation. In every neighborhood there should be at least one who is a witness to the saving grace of Christ and to the glad tidings of his soon coming. Thus the attention of the men of the world will be continually called to the gospel message, and a light from heaven will shine upon their way. In addition to the testimony of his godly life the witness for Jesus can judiciously direct the attention of those about him to the special truths for this time by the use of suitable literature and by Bible studies with individuals and families. “To every such man God has given a work to do in connection with his kingdom. Every one who professes the name of Christ is to be an earnest, disinterested worker, ready to defend the principles of righteousness. Every soul should take an active part in advancing the cause of God. Whatever our calling, as Christians we have a work to do in making Christ known to the world. . . . Let those who desire to work for God begin at home, in their own household, in their own neighborhood, among their own friends. Here they will find a favorable missionary field. This home missionary work is a test, revealing their ability or inability for service in a wider field. . . . In the home circle, at your neighbor’s fireside, at the bedside of the sick, in a quiet way you may read the Scriptures and speak a word for Jesus and the truth.” “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah.”